Technical Paper
Likelihood of Spinal Disc Herniations in Occupants Involved in Real World Side Impacts
2020-04-14
2020-01-0526
The prevalence of spinal disc herniations in people with no spinal symptoms have been reported to increase with age; from about 20% in those below 40 years to about 30% in those above 40 years. Spinal disc herniations are usually associated with degenerative changes. Though rare, spinal disc herniations can also be caused by trauma. With an increasing number of older people on U.S. roads with a concomitant increase in the probability of getting injured in a vehicle collision, it is reasonable to expect that some of these occupants can present with clinical findings of spinal disc herniations after a side impact, and attribute these findings to the impact. In this study, we looked at the relationship between real world side impacts and the occurrence of spinal injuries, in particular disc herniations, in occupants involved in such impacts.